Introducing Adam and Arabella Part 1

Today I'd like to introduce you to Adam St. Just and Arabella Knightley, the hero and heroine of My Lady Thief.

Arabella and Adam have been acquainted for several years, but their relationship is prickly. Adam is responsible for Arabella's nickname among the ton, 'Miss Smell o' Gutters', a mistake that he regrets but can never erase.

Here's a wee snippet from Chapter One—Arabella Knightley as seen through Adam's eyes:

Miss Knightley looked up as he approached. Her coloring showed her French blood—hair and eyes so dark they were almost black—but the soft dent in her chin, as if someone had laid a fingertip there at her birth, proclaimed her as coming from a long line of Knightleys.

His eyes catalogued her features—the elegant cheekbones, the dark eyes, the soft mouth—and his pulse gave a kick. It was one of the things that annoyed him most about Arabella Knightley: that he was so strongly attracted to her. The second most annoying thing was the stab of guilt—as familiar as the attraction—that always accompanied sight of her.

Adam bowed. “Miss Knightley, what a pleasure to see you here this evening.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Truly?” Her voice was light and amused, disbelieving.

Adam clenched his jaw. This was the third thing that annoyed him most about Miss Knightley: her manner.

As you can see, this hero and heroine do not like each other!


This picture is the closest I've been able to find to Arabella. I think it looks quite like her!

[Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum public domain collection.]